This review examines the putative role played by three repolarising potassium currents, namely the transient outward current (ito), the inward rectifying current (iK1), and the late outward rectifying current (iK), in the regulation of action potential duration in cardiac Purkinje and ventricular muscle fibres under normal physiological conditions. The role of other potassium currents, includin...

I used sharp intracellular electrodes to record from parasol cells in the semi-isolated crayfish brain to investigate pacemaker currents. Evidence for the presence of the hyperpolarization-activated inward rectifier potassium current was obtained in about half of the parasol cells examined, where strong, prolonged hyperpolarizing currents generated a slowly-rising voltage sag, and a post-hyperp...

The vestibular nerve is characterized by two broad groups of neurons that differ in the timing of their interspike intervals; some fire at highly regular intervals, whereas others fire at highly irregular intervals. Heterogeneity in ion channel properties has been proposed as shaping these firing patterns (Highstein SM, Politoff AL. Brain Res 150: 182-187, 1978; Smith CE, Goldberg JM. Biol Cybe...

The application of the nano-sized materials continues to grow at a rapid rate in the fields of medicine, biotechnology, and environmental technology. Voltage-gated potassium currents play a key role in excitable cellular viability and function, especially in the central nervous system. The aim of this study was to investigate the actions of silver nano-particles (nano-Ag) on voltage-activated p...